Watching WENY-TV in HD

TWIN TIERS (WENY) -- On April 23, 2012, WENY-TV made history, becoming the first local television station in the Twin Tiers to broadcast your local news in HD.

But many viewers still are watching in standard definition. To make the jump, you'll need three things.

First, of course, you need an HDTV. Chances are if you bought a flat-panel television some time in the last decade, its HDTV-ready. But if it's a tube television, you're out of luck.

Second, an HD signal. If you get WENY-TV on a cable or satellite provider, our newscasts on ABC and CBS should be in H-D. If it isn't, call your provider.

If you have Time Warner basic cable (without a cable box) or if you watch us over-the-air with an antenna, you need to watch the HD subchannels. These can vary, but normally will be 36.1 for ABC and 36.2 for CBS.

And over the air, only our ABC channel is H-D.

Third, you'll need cables that can carry that HD signal. Component cables and HDMI cables are commonly used with cable boxes and are great for HDTVs. But composite cables --which have yellow, red and white wires -- are standard definition only.

Even though people think coaxial cables are old-school, they too can can carry an HD signal -- convenient for people using basic cable or an antenna.

So if you've spent hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars on an HDTV, why watch the news in standard definition?